Ian McLaren is professor emeritus at Dalhousie University. Born in Montreal, he studied biology at McGill and Yale, specializing in marine biology. He has been a frequent contributor to the Nova Scotia Bird Society’s quarterly, Nova Scotia Birds, and was a regional editor for North American Birds. In the 1980s, he coordinated the posthumous third edition of Robie Tufts’ Birds of Nova Scotia (1995). Since retirement, he has spent more time birding and publishing on avian research. In 2012, The American Birding Association awarded him the prestigious Ludlow Griscom Award for Outstanding Contributions in Regional Ornithology. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

All the Birds of Nova Scotia aims to help observers evaluate bird sightings in Nova Scotia by focusing on the finer details of occurrence and identification. Compiling and evaluating a broad range of historical and contemporary data gathered by both ornithologists and amateur observers, Ian McLaren provides brief accounts of the status and key identification issues for all bird species, distinctive subspecies, and variations believed to have occurred in Nova Scotia up to 2010. In these accounts, readers can find answers to questions such as: Where does the bird normally occur? Is it common or rare, or becoming more, or less, common? Is it unusually late or early for the season? This book is required reading for any serious observer of Nova Scotia birds.